"Schooled" On The Law IN Public Education

In an effort to cast himself as the far right furher of the “anti-woke” movement, Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has presidential aspirations, has decided to target African American and transgender students for special treatment. University Press reported that the In May, the governor signed HB 1521 into law. This legislation mandates that transgender individuals must use the restroom that corresponds with their biological sex. The law bars transgender individuals from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in all K-12 schools, colleges, and all government-owned buildings or spaces. The new law criminalizes the use a bathroom that doesn’t align with the indivuals the sex at birth is now considered criminal trespassing, punishable by potential imprisonment. 

In regard to African American students, in July, the Florida State Board of Education approved the Florida’s State Academic Standards – Social Studies, 2023. SS.68.AA.2.3 states:

Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation).
Benchmark Clarifications:
Clarification 1: Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.

Aside from the political fallout (many of DeSantis’ rivals for the GOP nomination have attacked him for being racially insenstive), the Fuhrer, I mean governor, has exposed the State of Florida to lawsuits over both HB 1521 and Florida’s State Academic Standards – Social Studies. The trend in the majority of federal and state courts is to recognize transgender students have Title IX and Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights to access restrooms based on gender identity.

Outside Florida, almost without exception, students are taught that slavery was in controvention to the principles of equality espoused in the U.S. Constitution and that stain remained uncorrected until Brown v. Board of Education and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, Governor Smugness continues to double down. He’s unconcerned with equal protection, his only concern is protected his flank with the GOP’s hard right.